Merchandise
by Katy M VT
Summary: While Dean was in charge, 8 year old Sam was kidnapped and given to a man who likes to molest little boys.  Warning: implied sexual abuse, but nothing graphic.
1. Taken

"I'll be back in a couple of days," John said to 12 year old Dean. "Don't leave Sam alone."

"I won't," Dean promised. His dad didn't have to worry. Ever since that time last year when Sam had almost been killed because of him, he never let Sammy out of his sight when his dad was gone.

John just gave him a curt nod and left. He had hunting to do.

SSS

"Go to bed, Sammy," Dean said.

"But I want to stay up later," Sam whined.

"Don't be a bad boy, Sammy," Dean said, and gave him a look that sent Sam scampering off into the bedroom. He left the door open like he was supposed to. Dean liked to be able to keep an eye on him while he watched TV.

A half an hour later, Dean could hear Sam softly snoring and he got up to get some milk out of the refrigerator. He loved those rare occasions when their dad would pick a hotel with a kitchenette and separate bedroom. As he opened the refrigerator door, he heard the door next to him open. He looked up wondering if his dad was back early.

It was a man he had never seen before. As he opened his mouth to yell to Sammy to run, a cloth was placed over his mouth and he smelled something sickly sweet. Even as he struggled, he felt himself falling asleep. He tried to fight it. He had to protect Sammy, but he couldn't do anything. The man was much larger than him and soon he was out.

Once the man was sure Dean was out cold, he tied him up and gagged him and put him in the closet. He shoved a bureau in front of it and headed for the bedroom.

It always amazed him at how soundly little kids slept. It was good for him, considering the business he was in, but it still amazed him.

He grabbed the clothes that the buyer had insisted on the merchandise wearing when he was brought to him. He leaned over to take the kid's pajamas off. That was when he woke up.

"Who are you?" he asked. "Where's Dean?"

"Your father and brother told me what a bad boy you've been. They told me to come and get you and give you to a man who will punish you. Now finish getting undressed and put this on."

"But that's a dress for a girl," Sam protested.

"I can see your father was right. You are bad. You won't listen." The man pulled out another cloth and spilled some more chloroform on it.

"What's that?" Sam asked.

The man didn't answer him, but just applied to Sam's face. Once he was asleep, he dressed him in the dress and shook his head. This was one of his most sick clients. He almost felt sorry for the kid. But feeling sorry for the kid wouldn't make him any money. This guy was sick, but he paid double his rate. He wrapped the kid up in a blanket and carried him out to his car.

He drove to the agreed upon meeting place.

"Did you get him?"

"Don't I always?" he responded and opened the back door, to show him.

"Here's your money," the other man said pulling out a wad of bills.

"You know what to do with him in a few years when you're done with him, right?"

"Same as always."

The buyer lovingly lifted Sam out of the seller's car and placed him in his own. He wanted to get him home before he woke up. He usually had five or six boys at a time, but he loved them all.

SSS

Dean woke up and found himself tied up. He recognized the inside of their closet. There was hardly anything in it, seeing as how they moved every couple of months.

"Sam," he tried yelling through the gag. He knew it was muffled and if Sam wasn't out there, nobody else would hear him. He hoped his dad came home early for once.

SSS

Sam woke up in a frilly room. There was a man sitting in a chair next to him. This wasn't the same man as before.

"Who are you?" he asked.

"I'm your new Daddy."

"I want my old Daddy," Sam cried. He was scared. He just wanted to go home. He would be good from now on.

The man slapped him across his face. "Who's your Daddy?" he asked.

"You are," Sam answered. He was scared of this man.

"What's your name?" the man asked in a more gentle tone.

"Sam."

"That's a good name. Good for a boy or a girl."

"Do I have to wear this dress?" Sam asked.

He was slapped again. "Yes. Your father sent you to me because you were bad and need to be punished. The first thing you need to learn is to not question everything. Understand?"

Sam nodded.

"OK, now there are certain rules you need to follow. The first one is you are not to speak unless you are spoken to. The second is you are to always do whatever I tell you. Got it?"

Sam nodded again.

"Take off your dress."

Sam smiled. Gladly. "Where are the clothes for me to put on?"

He was slapped again. "What did I just tell you about speaking and not questioning everything and doing what I tell you? You just broke all three rules at once." He slapped Sam again. "Take off your dress."

Sam took it off. The man threw him down on the bed and Sam spent the next half hour pretending he was somewhere else and hoping his dad would let him come home soon.


	2. Routine

The next Day

"Sam! Dean!" Dean heard his dad yelling.

Dean screamed as loud as he could behind the gag.

John had already noticed the bureau pushed up against the closet and feared the worst. He moved it, opened the door and found Dean inside.

"He removed the gag."

"What happened?" he asked.

"Right after you left, this man came in. He put this cloth over my mouth and that's the last thing I remember until I woke up in here. Where's Sammy?"

John closed his eyes in frustration. That man, whoever he was, had obviously taken Sammy. He started untying Dean. "Did you recognize him?" This could be some hunter out for revenge.

"No," Dean said.

John had finished untying him and ran to get some water. If this happened right after he left, Dean had been gagged with no liquids for nearly two days. That wasn't good. He was worried about Sam, but he had to take care of Dean, too. Why hadn't he realized sooner that his boys needed to be a priority?

He handed Dean the water. "I'll be back."

Dean sat there, knowing his dad blamed him for Sammy. Once again, his dad had left him in charge and he had failed to keep his little brother safe.

SSS

John was checking the hotel security cameras. They had all been knocked out before the abduction. Nobody had seen anything. He had no leads.

SSS

After his new father was done hurting him, he handed Sam some clothes. Boy clothes this time. "Get dressed."

Sam did so hurriedly. He felt so dirty and he wanted to be covered up.

"Come on. This isn't your room. This is where I bring my boys when I want special time with them."

He grabbed Sam's arm and led him out into the hall. Sam had never seen such a big house. It looked like the house on Dynasty that that last babysitter had always been watching.

He was led down to the basement. His new father opened a door. They walked into a large room. There were several doors. "This used to be Randy's room. He just went home to his parents, so you can have it now." He opened the door and shoved Sam in. It was empty except for a bench. "Sit down."

Sam sat on the bench. His new father bent down in front of him and attached shackles to each of Sam's feet. Then he did the same to his hands. "Are you going to be a good boy down here?"

Sam nodded.

The man went to stroke Sam's cheek and Sam shied away. The man slapped him again. "I thought you were going to be a good boy. How are you ever going to go back home if you're not good?" He went to stroke Sam's cheek again and this time Sam let him.

The man smiled and patted him on his head and left. The light was shut off and Sam was plunged into darkness.

SSS

John called Bobby to tell him what had happened. He left his house and drove as fast as he could and joined John and Dean within hours.

"You got no leads?" Bobby asked.

John shook his head.

"I'm sorry," Dean said.

"Dean, this is not your fault," John and Bobby both said together. They looked at each other. Bobby was surprised, but glad, that John had said it. Dean didn't need the guilt of this. He was just a kid. And it didn't look like they were going to be able to find Sam.

SSS

Sam was sleeping when he was woken by a bright light. "Good morning, Sam."

Sam just looked at him.

"Say 'Good morning, Daddy.'"

Sam was already beginning to recognize that tone of voice. If he didn't do it, he would be hit again. "Good morning, Daddy."

"I made you oatmeal." He sat on the bench next to Sam and dipped the spoon in the warm cereal. He brought it up to Sam's mouth. Sam was going to protest that he could feed himself, but thought better of it. He opened his mouth and accepted the spoon.

Soon, the oatmeal was gone.

"I'll be back in a few minutes."

A little while later, he was back. He unlocked Sam's hands and feet and was led up to the bathroom. There were four other boys of varying ages. There was one of those huge tubs that fit multiple people. "Get undressed," the man said. All the other boys started to get undressed so Sam did, too.

"Get in the tub, Joey." The oldest of the boys got in the tub. Their "father" had meanwhile gotten undressed also and he stepped into the tub and hooked Joey's hands to a pair of cuffs that were hanging from the ceiling. He had each boy get in the tub, oldest to youngest. He hooked them all up and then bathed them.

Then he dressed them and led them all back to the basement. He let them all back into their cages and cuffed them back to their benches.

A few hours later, lunch was brought down and fed to Sam in the same manner as breakfast.

A little while later he was let out and he and the other boys were brought out to the backyard where there were tennis courts. They played tennis for about an hour and then were brought back to their cells.

Dinner was brought and fed to them later and then the lights were turned out. "Good night, Sam."

"Good night, Daddy," Sam said, remembering the lesson from earlier.

Each day passed exactly the same, except that once a week, Sam was dressed in a dress and brought up to the special room to spend the night. He dreaded that night more than any other.


	3. Drift Away

Eight years later

Sam had noticed that every couple of years one of the boys would disappear and another, younger one, would appear. Daddy said that they had gone home because they had learned to behave. He couldn't remember the last time he had misbehaved but Daddy hadn't said anything about his going home.

He wasn't sure he cared anyway. He hated his father for giving him to this man to punish him. Surely there was a better way. He didn't want to be here anymore, either. That was for sure.

"Good morning, Sam."

"Good morning, Daddy," Sam answered automatically.

As he was being fed his oatmeal, he felt himself getting sleepy. Finally he just slumped over.

"You're going home, Sam," Daddy said as he rubbed Sam's cheek. He was 16. He always got rid of them at 16. He drugged them so that they were docile but not out. He always liked to say good-bye. The seller that he bought them from liked them dead before he dumped them, but how could he actually watch his children die?

He unlocked Sam from the bench and tied his hands behind his back. Then he carried Sam as well as he could out to the car. Sam was the biggest kid he had ever had.

SSS

"Dean, I think I found a hunt."

They had stopped hunting for a full year after Sam's abduction, but come up with nothing. John had convinced Dean that they needed to get back to hunting so that they could maybe save other people's kids.

"What is it?" Dean asked.

He had failed to save Sam eight years ago. Now he was a totally driven hunter. Nobody was ever dying or getting hurt on his watch again. He had long ago reconciled himself to the fact that Sam was dead. That was the only way he could abandon the search. If there was even one doubt in his mind that Sam was out there waiting for him to rescue him, then he wouldn't have been able to get back to hunting.

"There have been a bunch of car accidents over the years—all deadly—on this one strip of road in Nebraska."

Dean froze for just a second. Nebraska is where he had last seen Sammy. He shook it off. "What do car accidents have to do with us?"

"Well, it's a totally straight road. The accidents happen in any kind of weather, including dry, and there is always exactly one man in his thirties to fifties in the car. It does always happen at night, though."

"Never any women or children?" Dean asked.

"Nope."

"Well, that is weird, but I would prefer to save kids."

John sighed. "I know you would, but this is what we have right now. Let's go. We can be there in a few hours."

SSS

The man pulled off the road onto the area that led to the private beach. The seller owned this beach, but it was through so many holding companies and dummy corporations that nobody would ever be able to trace it if the bodies were found.

The man had used his pickup. These were the only times he really used the thing. He had a canoe in the back. He took it out and then he grabbed Sam and brought him on the beach with him. He began drilling a small hole in the canoe. "What are you doing?" Sam slurred. He didn't really care about punishment at this point.

After the first week, the slaps had stopped and instead he had been burned with cigarettes, cut with knives and had his head held under water. Add the punishments to the fact that he was chained up most of the day with no chance of escape, and misbehaving had lost its appeal after the first month. Then it was the occasional accidental misstep—like now.

The man didn't care, though. This was Sam's last day of living. No point in punishing the boy. "I'm going to put you in this canoe and set it adrift. You'll drown in an hour or so."

He finished with the small hole—he didn't want it too big, and went back to the truck. He came back with two items. The first was a rag which he used to gag Sam. Couldn't have someone accidentally hearing his cries for help. The other was a cinder block with a chain attached to it. Couldn't have his bloated corpse surfacing. He spread the chain out at the edge of the beach. Then he put the canoe on top of it. He lay Sam in the canoe and put the cinder block on top of his stomach and tightened the chain.

He rubbed Sam's cheek once more and set him adrift. Then he jumped back in the truck and sped off. He couldn't watch one of his children die.


	4. Misunderstandings

John and Dean entered the patch of road where the accidents had happened and saw a pickup speed by them.

"Wonder what his hurry was?" John said.

"Who cares? You're sure these accidents only happen at night?"

"I'm sure," John said. "We're safe anyway. You're too young."

"Hey, there's a turn off to a private beach. We should check it out," Dean said.

"OK," John said. His plan had been to check out anything within a couple of miles off the road anyway, so this was as good a place to start as any.

"That's weird. There's a canoe in the middle of the lake." Dean pointed at it.

Sam heard a vehicle. Maybe this was just another of Daddy's punishments. Maybe he was coming back for him. He lifted up his head as much as he could to look. He couldn't see the shore that well, though.

"There's somebody in it," John said, "and it looks like it's sinking."

Without another word or thought, they stripped off their shoes and jackets and rushed into the water. They reached the canoe, just as it was about to go under.

"Crap. He's strapped in with a cinder block," Dean yelled.

John had gone behind the canoe to keep it up and Dean had had swum in front of it to get the guy out.

"We'll have to tow it to shore," Dean yelled.

Using all their strength, they flipped the boat on its side to get the water out and let it crash back down.

Sam cried out at the impact.

"Sorry," Dean said. "Hurry," he yelled to his dad.

Eventually they got the boat back to the shore. "I'll get the bolt cutters," John said and ran to the car."

Dean went to take the gag off the kid. He shied away from him.

"It's OK. I'm here to help," Dean reassured him. "What's your name?"

"Sam," Sam whispered.

Dean shook his head. This wasn't his Sammy. He was about the right age, but Sam was dead. It was just a coincidence, and a fairly common name.

John joined them with the bolt cutters.

Sam recognized him. He remembered him from years ago before his new Daddy had started punishing him. Apparently it was a punishment after all. This was the way his old dad was getting him back. This was the drop point or whatever.

After John had cut the chains away Sam sat up and held his hands out to be cuffed. It was the standard procedure on the rare occasions when Daddy had to take him out of the house. He had had a doctor friend who knew all about his children and treated them when they got really sick. He also had a dentist that he took them to twice a year. He said he didn't want to kiss any yuck mouths. And finally, he had a brother that he loaned the kids out to once in a while.

"What are you doing?" John asked.

Sam dropped his hands. If he didn't want to cuff him, that was fine with him.

"What's your name, son?" John asked.

Sam furrowed his brow in confusion. Why would his own father ask him his name? Probably a test. He had better answer before he got sent back. "Sam."

John looked over at Dean. He must have already asked because there was no trace of emotion on his face. "Sam what?"

Sam thought back. He hadn't used a last name in years. He could remember, though. He knew he could. He just had to think. "Winchester," he finally remembered.

"What?" John and Dean both said at the same time.

Sam scooted back on the canoe until he hit the back. They were mad. They would hurt him or send him back. "Please don't send me back. Please. I'll be good. I really will," he begged. "Please, Dad."

"You recognize me?" John asked.

Sam nodded.

"It's starting to get dark. We should go," Dean said. They had come here because something supernatural was going on. But that didn't matter right now. They had to take care of Sammy. "Come on, Sammy," he said, gingerly taking hold of his arm.

Sam started trembling. It was never good when someone touched you. Dean noticed and immediately let go, hurt.

Sam struggled to his feet and got in the back seat of the car. He laid down and fell asleep. He was still a little groggy from the drugs.

"Is that really Sam?" Dean asked. He was afraid to hope.

"I don't know," John answered. "When we get to the hotel, we'll test him to make sure he's at least human."

SSS

Sam woke up when the car came to a stop. He got out when his dad did. He realized he wasn't sure of something. "Are you Dean?" He remembered his brother. He had found it hard to believe he had been in on the whole punishment scheme. Maybe his father had tricked him.

"Yeah, Sammy," Dean said. He was hoping Sam would hug him or something but he just nodded his head.

"Come on in," John said. "Sam, would you mind drinking this salt water?" John asked. He had never gotten around to telling Sam about the supernatural, and he didn't want to right now. But if he could drink the holy water-salt drink and touch some silver, he would be human and they could get on with finding out what happened.

Sam drank it. It was gross, but not that big of a deal. John handed him a yogurt and a spoon. Sam took it and looked up for permission to eat. "Go ahead," John said. The silver hadn't bothered him.

"Where have you been all these years?"

"With my new Daddy. The one you gave me to since I was bad," Sam answered.

"I didn't give you to anybody, Sammy. They stole you," John said. If he had been brainwashed all these years to think that he was hated by his family, they needed to prove it wrong as soon as they could.

Sam didn't say anything. He hadn't been asked a question, so he couldn't speak. He wasn't stupid.

"Do you believe me, Sam?"

Sam shook his head no. This could be a test of honesty, or he could just want to hear what he wanted to hear. It was so hard to know what to do sometimes.

"Why not?" John asked.

"How did you know where to find me if you weren't supposed to pick me up there?"

Dean couldn't help but smile. Even at eight, Sammy had been a master at arguments of logic.

"We were there by coincidence. We didn't even know it was you until you told us. We thought you were…," John stopped.

"What?" Sam asked.

"Dead," Dean supplied. "That's the only reason we stopped looking for you."

"It's late. Why don't we get some sleep and talk in the morning?" John suggested.

Sam paled. He only saw two beds. Would he be expected to share one with them.

"You can share Dean's bed," John said pointing to the one furthest from the door.

Well that answered that question. Sam got up, went to the bed and took off his clothes. He lay down on the bed on his stomach and put his hands behind his back. Daddy had been tying his hands the last few years. He fought too much otherwise.

"What are you doing?" Dean asked, afraid of the answer.

"I'm sorry. Do you prefer another position?" Sam asked.

Dean put his hand over his face. "Just get under the covers and go to sleep," Dean said. If he found out who did this to Sam, he would kill him.

"I think you should sleep with me tonight," John whispered to Dean.

Dean nodded.


	5. Uncle Bobby

"So, what happened?" John asked Sam in the morning.

"What do you mean?"

"The last eight years. What's been happening to you?"

Sam shrugged. He didn't want to talk about it. Didn't want to think about it.

"Where does this guy live?" Dean asked.

"In a big house. Like a mansion," Sam answered.

John's cell phone rang. "Hey, Bobby," he said after checking the display.

"I looked into that hunt and that beach you were telling me about," Bobby said.

"Yeah, and?"

"I drove there last night," Bobby began.

"Last night? I told you to only go there in the day time," John yelled.

Sam flinched. He wasn't the one getting yelled at but it was still scary.

"Sorry," John mouthed to him.

"Just listen. A bunch of kids appeared in front of me. If I'd have swerved, I would have hit a tree. That's what happened in all the accidents, right? They hit a tree? I just zoomed through them and they disappeared. They were ghosts. Then I checked out the beach this morning. I went for a little dive and found a couple of bodies. If people have been dumping kids there, that would explain the ghosts."

"Thanks, Bobby," John said and hung up.

"Tell us more about this guy. Do you know where the house was?"

Sam shook his head. Whenever they went somewhere, they were loaded in the back of a van. Except for that last time, but he had been so out of it, he wasn't sure of anything.

"What was his name?"

"Daddy."

"You never heard anybody call him anything else?"

"Uncle called him Bro."

"OK, so we've narrowed it down to a rich guy with a brother," Dean said.

"Did you ever see anybody besides those two?" John asked. He had to get more clues.

"A doctor, a dentist, the other kids and a bunch of people at Christmas time."

That was a lot to take in. "There were other kids?" Dean asked, shooting a look at John.

"Yeah. Every couple of years, one would leave and another one would come."

"Bastard would dump them when they got too old for him," John said.

"What about the doctor and dentist? Did they come to the house?"

"No. We went to them, but I don't know where. We were in the back of a van and came out in a garage. Then we were blindfolded and led through a house, I guess into an office."

"Were there any names there?"

Sam shook his head. "Just doctor."

"OK, what about Christmas?"

"Daddy would throw a big party for all of his friends. We, the kids, would have to walk around with just a bow around our neck. Some of the guests would take us upstairs." Sam lowered his eyes. He was so ashamed.

"You did nothing wrong. You're not to blame for any of this, Sam. Understand?" John said.

That was unfortunate, because he said that same word understand in the same tone that Daddy used. Sam nodded his head submissively. That was what was expected of him.

"Any names used at the party."

"Not that I remember."

There was a knock at the door. Dean answered it. "Hey, Bobby."

Sam turned and looked. "Uncle Bobby," he said joyously. Since he had been told that his father had given him over to punishment, over the years, he had fantasized about Uncle Bobby coming to his rescue. After all, how many times had the man stepped in and told his father that he was being too hard on him and Dean.

John was slightly jealous, but he was more happy to see any spark of positive emotion on his boy's face. That meant it was still in there. That bastard hadn't totally broken Sammy.

"Hey, kid. I heard you were back. I missed you."

"Me, too," Sam said. "Can I come stay with you? Please." He wasn't sure he bought his dad's story. He trusted Bobby, though.

Bobby looked to John. "That's fine," John said. "We'll be up in a few days. Why don't you go wait for Bobby in his car." Sam walked out, anxious to get away from his father.

"Why are you trying to get rid of the boy after just getting him back?" Bobby asked. He couldn't believe this man sometimes. Probably had some stupid hunt he thought was more important.

"His kidnapper/molester told him that I gave him to him. He's scared of me. That doesn't seem to be true of you. I figure after a few days, we'll try again. I can't lose him again, either to some creep, or to his fear."

Bobby nodded. It was odd of John to be putting his son's needs first, but it seemed that was what he was doing. "What about Dean?"

"He seems slightly less scared of him, but the only time he's shown joy was when you came through the door. Let him know we love him and would never hurt him," John instructed.

Dean had been silent this whole time. "You OK, kid?" Bobby asked.

"He hates me because it's my fault."

"No, he doesn't. He's just scared. He'll come around. "You'll see," Bobby reassured him.

SSS

"Where do you live again?" Sam asked Bobby as they were driving. He couldn't remember.

"Sioux Falls, South Dakota."

"Oh yeah. And you have a bunch of old cars."

"That's right," Bobby said.

"Do you still have that dog?" Sam asked.

Bobby smiled. Sam had been the only one who liked that old mutt. John had worried it was going to bite the kid, but he was a lot like Bobby—his bark was worse than his bite.

"No. I've been thinking of getting another one. Maybe you could help me pick one out."

"Uncle Bobby?" Sam began shyly.

"Yeah, kid?" Bobby asked, having a feeling something important was coming up.

"I don't have to sleep in the same bed with you do I?"

"No, son. You never have to do that again," Bobby said. He wiped the tears forming in his eyes so he could see to drive.

"Promise?" Sam asked.

"I promise."


	6. The Lake

Sam's "Daddy" went back to the lake. It was a tradition of his. He always went back to the lake a couple of days after the casting off ceremony to pay his last respects.

When he arrived he saw his canoe up on the shore. He ran up to it and noticed that the chains had been cut. He heard a motor behind him and turned. He recognized one of the other seller's regular buyers. He was pulling a body out of the trunk.

"That's ripe."

"Yeah, I drove up yesterday and saw a car here. I didn't recognize it, so I took off and came back today," the newcomer explained.

"Was this canoe here?"

"Yeah."

"And you didn't see anybody?"

"No."

"And you're sure you didn't recognize the car?"

"No. It was an old ugly thing. It had South Dakota plates. I wrote them down just in case."

"Yeah, let me have that. I'll check it out. Make sure nothing's going on."

SSS

"We should take care of that road haunting," John said. They had a couple of days to kill to give Sam some time anyway.

"You serious? Those ghost kids were like Sam," Dean protested.

"If they were just killing perverts, I'd agree with you. But they tried to get Bobby to crash, so I don't think they know the difference. It's just any man. Besides if we send them away, they'll be at peace."

Dean snorted. "You've always said you don't know what happens to ghosts after we burn the bones. Besides, these are drowned kids, how would we burn the bones anyway? Most of them have probably been eaten by fish or whatever."

"I know a spell we can perform at the water's edge. And wherever they go it has to better than here."

"OK," Dean agreed. He hated to think of Sam trapped here in pain and lashing out at people. He would do it for other people's kid brothers.

SSS

At noon, Bobby finally knocked on the Sam's bedroom door. "You going to sleep all day, kid?"

Sam was embarrassed to admit that he wasn't sure if he was allowed to come out of the room. After all, he had to be let out of his own room. "Sorry. I guess I was tired."

"That's OK. You want breakfast or should we skip straight to lunch?"

Sam shrugged his shoulders. He had never had to make a decision before. He just did what "Daddy" had told him.

"How about I make you a cheeseburger? You always used to like those."

"OK," Sam said. He had had oatmeal for breakfast, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for lunch and spaghetti for supper for as long as he could remember. There was never any variation in the menu. He couldn't even remember what a cheeseburger tasted like.

SSS

John and Dean performed the ritual. When they were done, they saw dozens of spirits floating up out of the lake and out of view.

"That was a lot of kids," Dean said. "Should we call the cops?" That usually went against everything they believed in, but maybe the cops could find some of the kids still alive if they knew about this lake.

"Yeah. Let's go find a payphone, though. I want to do it anonymously."

SSS

Being rich definitely had its perks. A few well placed calls and bribes and "Daddy" had traced the license plate to a Bobby Singer in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. He ran a salvage yard. He hopped in his car and sped off.

SSS

After making the call to the police, John turned to Dean. "We'll head up to Bobby's tomorrow. Let's do something fun today."

"What?" Dean asked.

"You haven't had any fun since that day eight years ago. You let it eat you up and I didn't do anything to stop it. I lost both my sons that night. Now I hope to get both of them back."

"I don't think I'll be able to have fun today either. Let's wait and do something fun when Sammy's ready."

"OK," John acquiesced. "Let's go grab some food and watch a movie in the room, then."

SSS

The Next Day

"I'm going to go out and work on some cars. Want to help?"

"I don't know how," Sam said.

"That's OK. You can just hand me my tools and stuff," Bobby said. "You don't have to if you don't want," he added when he saw the unenthusiastic look on Sam's face. The last thing he wanted was to make Sam feel like he was being punished, or had to do things he didn't want to. Of course, everybody had to, but it was too soon for Sam.

"How about I just clean up in here?" Sam suggested.

"You want to do that?" The place was a total pig sty. He, himself, wouldn't know where to begin. He was about to refuse, thinking he wouldn't be able to find anything, but decided it would be good for Sam to feel helpful and at something he chose himself. "Don't touch any of the guns."

"No, sir," Sam said.

Bobby left him to it. Sam started picking up books. He opened up a couple of them, but the words were too big. He wondered if he asked if Uncle Bobby would teach him how to read better.

SSS

Bobby was working on a car when he heard another one pull up. It was more new and expensive than he was used to seeing around here.

"Can I help you?" Bobby asked, suspiciously.

Two men got out of the car. "Yeah, I was driving by and my car started making a weird noise. Thought since you were right here maybe you would take a look."

"I didn't hear a noise," Bobby countered.

"Well you can definitely hear it from the inside."

"Can I use your bathroom?" the other one asked and walked behind Bobby towards the house.

"No," Bobby said turning around.

Sam's "Daddy" who had been doing all the talking grabbed a wrench and hit Bobby in the back of his head. "That's just rude. You must have a bathroom."


	7. Family Reunion

Sam was dusting in Uncle Bobby's study. He had given up trying to organize the place. He had no idea where to start and he was afraid of getting in trouble for misplacing something important. He was just trying to clean up around the clutter.

He looked up when the door opened, expecting to see Uncle Bobby. He smiled. It froze on his face when he saw Daddy and Uncle there.

"Come here, Sam."

Sam stood up and went over. "What are you doing here?"

"Why do you think we're here?" Daddy asked, instead of answering. When Sam didn't answer he yelled, "ANSWER ME!" and backhanded Sam across the face so hard, he went flying across the room.

Sam looked up from where he landed in the corner. "Because I wanted to come and stay with Uncle Bobby instead of my dad?" he guessed.

Daddy smiled and nodded. He knew Sam would give him the ammunition he needed. "Yes. Wanting to leave was very naughty. Your father realized you hadn't learned your lesson. He sent me here to take you back."

"No. Please. I'll stay with my dad. I'll be good."

Daddy loved it when one of his boys whimpered and begged. It made him feel all-powerful. "Get up."

Sam slowly got up.

"Come here."

Sam walked over. There was no point in defying Daddy. It only ended in pain.

"Outside."

Sam went outside. He saw Bobby sprawled out on the ground. "What happened to him?"

"He disagreed with your father. I was told that he might and to do whatever I had to."

Sam started to go to Bobby, but Daddy grabbed his shirt collar and pulled him back roughly. He shoved him over to the tow truck. He found the perfect spot on it a little above Sam's head. "Put your hands around that."

Sam shook his head. He knew this one.

"Hey, bro, help me out here," Daddy called to Uncle.

"Will you just kill him already," Uncle said, glancing around nervously.

"He has to be punished. How will he learn if he's not punished?" Daddy asked.

"Why does he need to learn if you're going to kill him? Come on, Charlie. Somebody could come. We should kill them and get out of here."

"After the punishment. Come on, Jake."

Sam realized that was the first time that they had ever called each other anything but Bro. Not in his presence anyway. It was weird to think of them having actual names.

Jake rolled his eyes. He decided if it would help get them out of here faster, he should just help. He went up to where Charlie was still holding Sam's collar and grabbed his hands and put them around the bar and cuffed them together.

"Thank you," Charlie said. "Was that so hard."

"Just make it snappy."

Charlie grabbed the rag that Bobby had been using it and tied it around Sam's mouth. He loved to hear his kids whimper and beg, but couldn't stand hearing them scream. It grated on his nerves. Why couldn't they take their punishments like a man?

Then he took out his knife. He grinned as Sam's eyes widened. He cut Sam's shirt off of him. Then he started cutting Sam. He cut where there were already scars and he made a few cuts in new places, too. Sam was moaning behind the gag. Charlie didn't know why. He wasn't cutting him enough to cause permanent damage. He almost laughed at the thought. There wasn't going to be much permanent left for Sam.

"That's enough. Just kill him," Jake said.

SSS

John and Dean turned into the salvage yard. They saw Sam cuffed to the tow truck and a man with a knife next to him. Dean jumped out of the car before John could even stop. He had his gun out and pointing at the guy, but not before he had positioned the knife to Sam's throat and managed to slip behind him.

"I knew this would happen," Jake grumbled.

By now, John was out of the car and also trying to get an angle on Sam's captor.

Sam was confused. If his dad had sent Daddy to come and get him, why was he trying to stop him now?

"Let him go," John said. He was trying to be commanding, but he felt like his voice was shaking. He had just got Sammy back. He couldn't lose him again so soon.

"Put the guns down or I slit his throat," Charlie countered.

When neither John or Dean made a move to comply, Charlie started applying a little pressure and a trickle of blood started flowing from Sam's throat. He wished that Daddy would just kill him. He was sick of being scared all the time.

"OK," John said and nodded to Dean. They both put their guns on the ground.

"Unlock him, Jake," Charlie said.

Jake went up and undid Sam's cuffs. Charlie kept the knife to his throat the whole time. He backed up to the car, keeping Sam between him and the kid's family. Jake was already in the driver's seat with the engine started. Charlie opened up the back door and shoved Sam in and quickly got in beside him. "Go!" he yelled to his brother.

They were almost out of the yard when they heard shooting behind them. "Why didn't you pick up their guns, you moron?" Charlie asked. "We could have shot them and been done with them."

"Sorry. It's not like I've ever done this before," Jake said.

John and Dean ran to the Impala and sped after the car. The car raced to beat a train across the tracks and made it, but John knew that he wouldn't. He had no choice but to let the car go.

"It's OK, Dean. We'll get him back."

"How, Dad? It was eight years the first time and then it was just dumb luck. We had given up."

"This time we know what they look like. That will help."

"You know, neither one of those guys was the guy from that night," Dean realized.

"Are you sure?" John asked.

"Yeah. I dream about him every night. He was shorter than both those guys, had a much lighter complexion and his facial features were totally different. Even accounting for the fact that people change as they age, I know it wasn't him."

SSS

"We can't go back home," Charlie said.

"Why not?" Jake asked.

"That older guy was really checking out the car. He got our plates. He'll track us down the same way we tracked him down."

Jake swore. "Can we at least dump the kid now? We've lost them."

"No. This is all a sign. Sam was saved twice and I've been cut off from my other children. We're obviously meant to be together forever."

Sam shuddered as he contemplated forever.


	8. Camping Trip

Bobby was just coming around when John and Dean got back.

"Bobby, are you OK?" Dean asked.

"Where's Sam?" Bobby asked, instead of answering about himself.

"They took him," John said. "We lost him at the railroad tracks."

"Balls."

"What happened?" Dean asked.

"These two guys drove up in this car. I was suspicious of them for some reason. One of them was telling me about a noise in the car. The other one started heading towards the house to ask if he could use the bathroom. I didn't want them in there, so I turned and said no, and the first guy must have picked up my wrench and hit me with it."

"Well, maybe we can track down the car," Dean said doubtfully. It was a new one, so there were tons of them just like it.

"I got the plate number," Bobby said and hurriedly wrote it down before he forgot it.

"Great. I'll go call Jack and have him trace it." Jack was a hunter who had law enforcement contacts. He was always ready to lend a helping hand like this.

SSS

"Where are we going to go?" Jake asked again. They could deal with the kid later.

"Remember that place in Wyoming where Dad always used to rent for hiking and camping?"

"Yeah," Jake said. Not exactly a happy memory.

"We never ran into anyone else out there. Let's buy some gear. I bet we could live for years with nobody noticing us."

"For years?" Jake repeated. "What will we eat once we run out of canned food?"

"We'll go fishing."

"Are you serious?"

"Do you have a better idea?"

Jake didn't. Charlie pointed out a camping/hunting store. "Drive around the block and then we'll stop here," he told Jake. Charlie pulled out a needle. "Your doctor gave me this before I came to pick you up in case I needed it. You can sleep while we shop."

Sam felt the sharp prick and felt his eyes close. He felt the gag being taken off and the last thing he heard before he fell asleep were the doors opening and closing.

SSS

John, Dean and Bobby were headed down to Charles Buffington's house in Nebraska. "This place is huge," Dean said when they got there.

"Let's find a spot in the fence to climb over. This was pretty good timing getting here at midnight."

"I'll bet this place has an alarm system," Bobby said doubtfully.

"We know how to not trip alarm systems. Come on," Dean said impatiently. His brother could be in there.

SSS

Sam woke up when he felt the car coming to a stop.

"You're awake. You've been sleeping a day and a half. I was worried I gave you too much," Daddy said.

"What are we going to do about the car?" Jake asked. If they left it here, someone would come looking for them on the mountain.

"After we unload, we can drive it down to the lake and drown it."

"With the kid in it?" Jake asked hopefully.

"No, of course not."

They unloaded all the gear and left it inside the woods. They would divvy it into three packs for carrying when they got back. "Why don't you just go and come back?" Charlie suggested.

"Fine," Jake said.

While he was gone, Charlie started dividing up the equipment. He handed Sam a pack and told him to put it on his back. "It's too heavy," Sam complained when he got it on.

"What would you like to get rid of? The tent, sleeping bag or food?" Charlie yelled and kicked Sam sending him to his knees.

"Sorry," Sam said.

"Give me your hands."

Sam held up his hands as he had been taught to since he was eight. Charlie took a long piece of rope and tied Sam's hands with one end of it and tied the other end to his waist. Then he stuck the gag back in his mouth. "I don't want to have to listen to you whine all day."

Jake came back. He picked up a pack without comment and they started hiking into the woods. They walked for a while and then Sam fell down. Charlie didn't stop and Sam felt himself being dragged for a few feet. "Get up, boy. I'm not giving you a free ride up the mountain."

Sam got up and trudged on behind the two brothers. The only solace he had was finally knowing for sure that his father hadn't given him to this man. He wished he could apologize for having ever entertained the thought, but knew that he would never see him, or Dean, or Uncle Bobby again. A tear rolled down his cheek.

SSS

The three hunters made their way upstairs. They had decided against splitting up. John hadn't said so, but he was afraid those sickos would get their hands on Dean. He couldn't lose both his sons to these guys.

After thoroughly searching the upstairs and find nobody, they went back down to the main floor. It was equally deserted. They headed to the basement. They found a heavy door and John opened it, while Dean and Bobby pointed their guns inside. Inside all they found were five more doors. These were locked. They opened the first one and it was empty. "Come on," Dean said frustrated.

The second one revealed a 14 year old boy chained to a bench. John rushed over to pick the locks.

"What's your name?" John asked

"Max. Did Daddy say you could let me free?" he asked in a scared voice.

"It's OK. He's not here," John reassured him.

"But he'll be back."

"It's OK. We'll get you out of here," John promised.

The boy didn't seem convinced, but joined the others at the door. He looked around nervously. "Who are you?" he asked. This was probably a test that he was failing. He was going to be punished so bad.

"Sam's father," John said, not knowing if that would mean anything.

"Sam went home," the boy said. He had a feeling that when Daddy said a boy was going home that he really wasn't, but it was the only hope he had and he refused to let it completely die.

Bobby and Dean started working on the other doors. They let out three more boys. "You guys all know Sam?" Dean asked.

"Kind of," Max said. "We only see each other twice a day. Bath time and tennis."

Dean didn't like the sound of bath time, but decided not to ask.

"Let's get these kids to the police station and find Sam," John said.


	9. Betrayal

Sam, Jake, and Charlie stopped a couple of hours before sunset for the night. Sam was shivering. Nobody had bothered to replace the shirt that Charlie had cut off him.

"Are you cold?" Charlie asked him.

Sam shook his head no. He didn't want to be warmed up any way that Daddy could think of.

Charlie just chuckled. Once the sun went down, Sam would be begging for his body warmth. For now, he untied the rope from his waist and led Sam over to a tree. He looped his end of the rope that was tied to Sam's hands around some branches above his head, forcing Sam to stand on his tiptoes. When he had tied that tightly, he grabbed some more rope and tied Sam's body to the tree.

"Seriously, will you just kill him already? He's going to slow us down and eat too much of our food," Jake complained.

"I told you. Him not dying was a sign. We're meant to be together forever." He stroked Sam's cheek and then started helping his brother set up the tent.

SSS

After making the kids promise not to mention them, or at least not give a description, John, Dean, and Bobby headed to the records hall to find out if there was any other property belonging to Charles Huffington.

"Here's a house a couple miles away owned by Jacob Huffington. That's probably the brother he shared Sam with," Dean seethed.

"We'll go check that out," John said to Bobby. "You keep looking in case they aren't there."

Dean refused to hear that. They had to be there.

SSS

Charlie remembered all the times that his father had brought him up here as a boy. He was much better behaved than Sam was. When his father had wanted him to get undressed, he did it without all the hesitations. They had had the perfect relationship. Until Jake ruined everything. He was always ruining everything.

Charlie went over to the tree and ungagged Sam and gave him some water to drink. "Cold yet?" he asked.

Sam didn't answer. There was no point in trying to deny it. He was shaking. He was untied and led to the tent. Jake was already in the tent and Sam was placed between them. He remembered that Bobby promised him he would never had to do this again. He was sorry he was wrong. He did what he always did and thought of anything else.

SSS

John and Dean met up with Bobby after ascertaining that the brother's house was equally empty.

"Please tell me you found something," Dean begged.

"There was only one thing I could find. A George Huffington owned a cabin on a mountain in the middle of nowhere in Wyoming. Nobody paid taxes on it after he died. The boys might not even realize he owned it. But they might have been there and thought it was a rental or something. It's all I found."

John rolled his eyes. He hated to leave the area if Sam was close. The Huffington brothers were probably planning on killing him if they hadn't already. But, this was their only lead.

"Let's go," he finally decided. Action was always better than inaction.

SSS

Sam woke up in the tent alone. He pulled on his jeans and put on his shoes and peeked his head out of the tent. Jake was there and grabbed him by the hair and pulled him out, enjoying the sounds of Sam's pain.

"Come on, kid. Charlie went fishing so we could eat something besides all the canned crap we lugged up here. You're going to accidentally fall off the really high ledge that's over in the other direction."

Jake dragged Sam along. He tried to pull back but it was half-hearted. He thought that maybe he really did want to die. That's why he didn't yell out to see if Daddy would rescue him.

"Got any last requests?" Jake asked as they neared the edge.

"No," Sam said, wishing he would just get it over with.

"Well, maybe I do. One last time when I don't have to share you with my brother. We won't be getting any more of you boys while we're up here." He pulled Sam away from the ledge and pushed him to the ground. Sam just lay there waiting. He wasn't used to having anywhere to run to, so all the open space around him didn't give him any ideas.

"You know you've always called me Uncle. You know what that means don't you? It's a term of total submission. It means you want this."

As Jake started lowering himself onto Sam, Sam heard a shout of "Leave him alone!" The next thing he knew Jake was crashing down on him and he was being covered in warm blood.

Jake was thrown off of him. "Are you OK?" Daddy was asking him.

Sam had never seen someone die before. Jake was still gurgling. Daddy was wiping his knife off. "He ruins everything. Well not this time. Get your jeans back on. We're leaving."

Sam hurriedly put his jeans and shoes back on. He wanted to get away from there. When they got back to the campsite, Charlie tied Sam back to the tree and packed up their gear. He left the tent, though. Then he untied Sam from the tree and tied his hands to his waist again.

"Aren't you taking the tent?" Sam asked.

"Don't need to. The cabin is only a few hours hike from her. That was just for last night."

They walked in silence for a few minutes when Charlie stopped and swung around to face Sam. "Why did you go off with him? Don't you love me more?"

Sam didn't know how to answer that. He didn't love either of them. "Sorry," he decided on.

Charlie shoved Sam up against a tree and placed his knife against his throat. "I should kill you. You betrayed me."

Sam, once again, was just hoping he would be killed. He couldn't take it anymore. But the knife was removed from his throat and he noticed that Daddy was walking. He followed before he ended up being dragged.


	10. Memories

Daddy had kept up a rough pace all day. Sam was exhausted by the time they reached the cabin. "Oh, we'll have so many happy memories here, just like I did with my Daddy."

"Do you own this place?" Sam asked. If he did there was no way he had been here in the last eight years. He had never been gone long enough.

"No. My dad used to rent it a lot when I was a kid." Charlie didn't realize it, but his father had lied to them about owning this place, because he didn't want their mother to know about it in case they divorced.

"What if there's someone in there?" Sam asked, half hopefully. Maybe they would save him.

"I'll kill them," Charlie said and pulled out his knife.

Sam changed his mind and prayed that nobody was inside.

Charlie turned the knob and the door opened. He stepped gingerly inside and saw that the place was empty and very, very dusty. Nobody had been here for years. Charlie untied the rope from his waist, but left Sam's hands tied in front of him.

"The place hasn't changed at all," Charlie said with glee. "You can have my old room." He leaned down and lifted up a panel on the floor. There was a small space underneath it. It was about five and a half feet long, two and a half feet wide and one foot deep. "Get in."

"I can't fit in there," Sam protested.

"Of course you can! You just have to scrunch up. Do you want to sleep in your new room or get cut and burned?"

"Sleep in my new room," Sam said and folded himself up as best he could to fit. The door closed over him and he was left in complete darkness. He heard what he assumed was the large table he had seen being shoved over the door. He was incredibly uncomfortable to say the least.

SSS

Dean, John and Bobby had obtained a map of the woods to the cabin. They were disappointed to find that the only way there was a two day hike. If they weren't there, they probably would have permanently lost their chance. None of them dared say that, though.

"Let's go," John said. They had a bare minimum of things.

Towards sunset they came upon a tent. "Someone's been here recently," Dean said. "That's good, right?"

"Well, let's not get our hopes up. We don't know it was them. But yeah, it's good," John admitted.

"I'm going to look around and see if I can find any clue that it was them or when they were here," Bobby said.

"Good idea. We'll go this way," John said.

Bobby was approaching a ledge and was about to turn around when he saw something sticking out from under a bush. He went to investigate and found one of the guys who had kidnapped Sam, gutted. He walked back towards the campsite, John and Dean were just returning.

"Dean, want to collect some firewood?" Bobby asked.

"Sure," Dean said.

When Dean had headed into the woods a bit John asked, "What is it?"

"I found a dead body," Bobby said in a low voice. "It was one of them."

"Accident? Heart attack?" John asked.

Bobby shook his head. "He was stabbed."

John swore. This wasn't good. On the one hand, they were now sure they were on the right path and only had one kidnapper to deal with. But on the other hand, if he was willing to kill his accomplice, that didn't give Sam much of a chance. "Not a word to Dean," John warned.

"That's why I sent him off," Bobby agreed.

SSS

Halfway through the night, Charlie missed Sam. He opened the door to his bedroom. Sam started to try to wriggle up. "No, don't move. I just want to watch you."

"Please let me get out. I hurt," Sam begged.

Charlie smiled. He remembered when he would ask his father the same thing. So, he did what his father had done. "OK, sit up."

It took a few minutes, but Sam was sitting up. Charlie then started kicking him, until Sam curled in on himself enough that Charlie could shut the door again. His father had loved playing that game with him. It was a family tradition.

SSS

The next morning,

John, Bobby, and Dean got up with the sun and immediately set out. They were hoping to get to the cabin by noon. They had no idea if they would find Sam and if they did whether or not he would be alive.

SSS

Charlie opened up Sam's bedroom door. "Get out," he said.

Sam tried but he was too stiff. Charlie chuckled and reached in to grab one of his arms and lift him out. Sam groaned and whimpered. His body had been in an unnatural position all night. "I know how you feel," Charlie said. "I remember the last time I slept in there. Do you want to hear about it?"

Sam nodded. He might as well. Charlie sat on the couch and pulled Sam onto his lap.

"I was about your age. Jake was eight. It was the first time our father had brought him up here. The second we got up here, my dad told me to get into the room. That was weird, because I usually only went in there the second half of the night after our special time. See, my dad and I used to have special time just like I had with all of my kids."

Sam looked down. He hoped more special time wasn't coming up.

"Anyway, shortly after I was down there, I heard these noises going on above me, and I knew Daddy was having special time with Jake. You can imagine how jealous I was. Well, maybe you can't since you had to share me from the beginning, but when you have your Daddy all to yourself in that way, you don't want anyone else horning in."

Sam couldn't have disagreed more. The more kids getting special time, probably meant less for him.

"Daddy let me out the next morning. Can you believe Jake was crying? He didn't like special time. Who doesn't love special time? Daddy told me to fix breakfast for them. I was being reduced to a servant, but I did it. I would have done anything for my Daddy. But, while I was fixing the eggs, I heard a shot. I turned around and Jake had killed him." His face had gone white with the memory. Jake really did ruin everything.

"What did you do?" Sam asked. From the way the story was going he would have thought that he had killed Jake, but seeing as he had done that yesterday, he obviously hadn't done it back then.

Charlie just had a really great idea. "I'll show you," he said.


	11. Destiny

Sam didn't like the look on Daddy's face. "That's OK. You don't need to show me."

"Oh, but I think I do. " Charlie untied Sam's hands and then said, "Roll over on your stomach."

Sam stifled a cry. He figured that Daddy had decided to start having special time with Charlie after his dad had died. Made sense he guessed. He rolled over, though. There was no point in adding punishment to it.

He felt his hands being pulled behind his backed and tied there. Then he was lifted to his feet. "Come on."

Charlie grabbed the shovel that was standing next to the door and shoved Sam out in front of him, pushing him in the direction he wanted him to go. Soon, they came to a clearing and a large oak tree. "This is where I buried my father." He started digging.

"Are you going to dig him up?" Sam asked.

"You'll see."

SSS

John, Dean, and Bobby arrived at the cabin. "They're not here," Dean stated the obvious.

"There's footprints," Bobby observed when he went back outside. "They're fresh."

They followed them. Dean didn't think he could take much more suspense. He had to find Sam and soon. John and Bobby felt the same way.

SSS

"There he is!" Charlie yelled triumphantly, when he finally hit his father's bones. "Do you know why I dug him up?"

Sam shook his head.

"I thought all the signs of you surviving meant that we were supposed to be together forever. But that's selfish. My father has been here all alone the past 25 years. The signs were pointing to me giving you to him."

Sam made a face. Was he going to have to do something weird with bones?

"Get in," Charlie said.

If he was going to have to do this, he would prefer to at least be above ground. "Can't you bring him out instead?"

"No. Get in."

Sam recognized that tone. That was the "It's your last chance before severe punishment" tone. Sam hadn't heard it often because he didn't usually push things this far. When he did hear it, though, he obeyed completely. But, he couldn't do it this time. He stepped away from the hole.

Charlie couldn't believe it. This was Sam's destiny. He would have killed for this destiny and Sam didn't even appreciate it. He took the two steps to Sam and grabbed him and shoved him in the hole.

"Lie face down so that you're facing each other. You can kiss him if you want."

Sam lay face down, but he definitely did not want to kiss him. He didn't figure Daddy would be able to tell anyway from above.

He felt dirt fall on him. Then, some more. "What are you doing?"

"I told you. I'm giving you to your grandfather. He was the one you were meant to be with forever. He heaved another shovelful of dirt on Sam.

Sam tried to roll over so he could stand up, but his foot got stuck on a root or something.

SSS

"There's a clearing coming up. Be quiet," Bobby whispered. John and Dean had pretty much let Bobby take the lead on this one because he had more woods experience.

They sneaked to the edge. "What's he doing?" Dean whispered. "Where's Sam?"

"I don't know, but let's take care of this joker," Bobby said.

"Hey!" John yelled.

Sam heard that yell. "Dad! Help!"

"Shut up," Charlie said and heaved another shovelful on.

"He's burying Sam alive," Dean said and shot. Dean was an excellent shot and hit Charlie square in the back of the head. He plunged into the grave on top of Sam. He had just enough time to think that maybe he had been wrong all along. It was his destiny to be with his father forever.

The three hunters ran up. John and Dean pulled Charlie off of Sam and flung him out of the grave. Bobby kept his gun on Charlie just in case. John gently lifted Sam up and out of the grave. Sam looked over at Charlie. He didn't feel anything about him being dead. He wondered if that made him a bad person.

"You OK, Sammy?" John asked.

"I'm sorry, Dad," Sam said.

"For what?"

"He always told me that you gave me to him and I believed him. Even after you rescued me, I still believed him. You probably hate me," Sam said and hung his head down.

"Sam, first of all, no matter what you do, I could never hate you. Never. Second, it wasn't your fault that you believed him. You were brainwashed from the time you were eight. OK?"

"OK," Sam said, doubtfully.

John realized that getting Sam back mentally was going to be a longer process than getting him back physically. "One of us is going to have to cut the ropes from your hands. Who would you feel most comfortable with?"

Bobby was impressed. John was handling this better than he had expected. He was deferring to Sam and taking his feelings into consideration instead of just ordering him to be part of the family and telling him how it was going to be. He had a new respect for John. This had to be especially hard on him considering the way he usually did things.

"Dean," Sam decided. He really would have preferred Uncle Bobby since he had just spent a couple of days with him and felt he knew him best right now. But, he wasn't really afraid of Dean and Dean was so quiet around him. He saw guilt in his eyes or something and had remembered that the two of them had been alone that night. He was rewarded by a big grin from Dean and he returned a small smile.

"Hey, where's the other guy?" Dean suddenly remembered as he cut Sam free.

"He's dead," Bobby said. "I found his body near the campsite." He wasn't sure if Sam knew or not, but he hadn't seemed to react very strongly to the other's death, so he didn't figure it mattered.

"Why didn't you tell us?" Dean asked.

"We didn't want to worry you," John replied.

"You knew, too?" Dean felt like maybe he wasn't trusted.

"Can we go now?" Sam asked.

"Sure, Sam." John wasn't sure they could make the campsite by nightfall, but he had no idea what had happened at the cabin last night. And the sooner they got Sam back to Bobby's the better.

"Wait a minute," Dean said and took his shirt off.

Sam's eyes got wide. Maybe everybody did this kind of thing. Maybe he was wrong to think it was weird.

Dean saw the look of fear on Sam's eyes. "I'm just giving you my shirt. You must be cold."

Sam took a step towards Dean, grabbed the shirt and retreated. He put it on as quickly as he could.

"OK, let's go," John said. He saw the hurt in Dean's eyes and couldn't blame him, but he couldn't blame Sammy either. This was going to be a long hard road.

They had only walked a couple of hours when Sam passed out.


	12. Future Plans

Sam woke up to a hand on his forehead and bolted back.

"Sorry, Sam. You had a fever and I was just checking to see if you were still warm," John explained.

"Are we back at Bobby's?" Sam asked.

"Yeah. We had to carry you off the mountain. You've been asleep awhile. How are you feeling?"

"OK," Sam looked down.

Dean and Bobby came in. "You're awake," Dean said and smiled. "Dad, why didn't you come get me?"

"Because he's been awake for three seconds," John answered.

"Well, I thought you might be waking up soon, so I brought you some water in case," Bobby said.

"Thanks, Bobby."

Bobby was a little disappointed. Dean had never called him Uncle Bobby. When he had first met the six year old, he immediately started calling him Bobby. Sam calling him Uncle Bobby had always made him feel a part of the family. "No more uncle?" he asked.

Did Bobby think uncle meant what Jake thought it meant? Sam started shivering uncontrollably.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Dean asked and rushed to the bed and sat down next to Sam. He was going to put his arms around him to warm him up, like when they were little, but thought better of it.

"Nothing," Sam muttered.

John shook his head. "Sam, you've been through hell for half your life, and to be honest the other half wasn't exactly fun and games. You need to tell us every time something scares you. That's the only way we can help you."

"We always called Jake Uncle. He told me it meant complete submission and that it meant that I wanted to... wanted to… you know."

"Sam, I know you don't want that. I don't want you to want that. And now that I know that's what you think of the word, I don't want you to ever call me uncle again," Bobby said. It hurt to say that, but what else could he do.

"I'm sorry," Sam whispered.

"Sam, nothing that has happened to you is your fault. You need to stop apologizing for everything," John said.

"I'm sorry," Sam said.

The others laughed. "What?"

"Never mind," John said. "Is there anything else that's bothering you, right now?"

"Well, actually, kind of," Sam began hesitantly.

"Whatever it is, just tell us," John said. "We'll do our best to make it OK."

"Would it be OK if I called you something besides Dad?" It was too close to Daddy. He kept seeing his image. He just wanted to forget him.

John was saddened, but he said, "Sure. I think we can agree that Father is too formal."

Sam smiled. Dean laughed. He couldn't imagine calling his dad Father like he was a priest. "How about Pop?" Dean asked.

John inwardly made a face, but there weren't a whole lot of options in this area, without veering into the unrecognizable or ridiculous. "Sam?"

"OK," Sam said, but he didn't really think it fit. "Pop," he added.

"Are you hungry?" John asked.

Sam nodded again.

"Well, great. Supper's almost ready," Bobby said. "You up to coming down or you want me to bring a tray up?"

"I'll come down?" Sam asked. He really wasn't used to making decisions and was afraid he would make the wrong one.

"Great," John said, deciding to ignore the fact that it was phrased as a question. "Come on."

SSS

"I think you should send him to a psychiatrist, John," Bobby said. Sam and Dean were outside. Dean had taken him fishing at the little stream that ran past Bobby's house. There weren't a lot of fish in it, but that didn't really matter.

"It'll raise too many flags," John countered.

"He's been through a lot. You've seen him. He's afraid to make the simplest of decisions because it might be the wrong one. He walks around on egg shells, afraid he'll get hit. Every night when it gets close to bed time, he gets all skittish. He's still afraid one of us is going to, well you know. Those perverts spent the last eight years breaking him. It's going to take more than a couple of days to fix him," Bobby argued.

"I don't expect him to be OK in a couple of days, but he'll come around eventually. We'll start his training. He won't be so scared all the time once he starts killing ghosts and wendigos and things."

Bobby thought he couldn't have possibly heard right. "You're going to turn him into a hunter?"

"Of course. We've been here too long as it is. There are people dying out there and things that need killing. It's time to get back into it."

Bobby shook his head. He had thought John was going to be reasonable but it looked like he was wrong.

SSS

"Well, looks like we're not going to catch anything," Dean said.

"Can I ask you something?" Sam began shyly.

"Sure, Sammy," Dean said, the old nickname just coming out. He hadn't called him that since they had found him again.

"Are there any fish in this stream?"

Dean had been hoping for something more substantial and personal. Sam hardly spoke. He always asked for permission before doing so. It was frustrating, but Dean knew it wasn't his fault. "Probably not."

"Then why do you keep bringing me here to fish?"

"So we can hang out. Alone."

Sam misunderstood and jumped up. He lost his footing and almost fell in the stream, but Dean grabbed his arm and pulled him back.

"NO!" Sam yelled.

Dean still hadn't figured out what had got him so upset. He tried to remember what he had said. He realized it was probably the word alone. "Sam, I didn't mean it like that. It's just when you were little it was just the two of us a lot of the time. I missed you."

Sam was backing up. He realized that if Dean had wanted to do that, it probably would have already happened. He could also see that he had hurt his feelings. He always felt like he was hurting everyone's feelings. He hated being scared of his own family, but he didn't know how to stop.


	13. Leaving Bobby's

The next day

Sam got up and came downstairs. John and Dean were sitting at the table eating breakfast. "Where's Bobby?" He always felt more comfortable when Bobby was around.

"He left. He had something to take care of," John said. "We've been imposing on him too long. We'll be leaving today." They had actually had a big fight over Sam's future. Bobby would be back in a few hours and John intended to be gone before he got back.

Sam's eyes went wide. He wasn't ready to be alone with them. He wasn't sure why, but Bobby made him feel safe and his father scared him. Sometimes he felt safe with Dean and sometimes he was scared of him. He'd feel better if they stayed at Bobby's. But, he didn't protest. He never protested anything.

Dean noticed the look. He was hurt, but he knew that the only one Sam really trusted was Bobby. "Come on, Dad. Bobby likes us. He won't mind if we stay a few more days."

"I said we're leaving. Grab your stuff," John said irritably.

Sam flinched. John noticed and was sure hunting would get rid of that automatic reaction to any yelling. He was doing this for Sam's own good.

SSS

A little while later they were on the road. "Where are we going?" Dean asked.

John checked the rearview mirror to make sure Sam was awake. When he saw that he was, he said," I'm glad you asked, Dean. Sam, want to know where we're going and why?"

"Sure," Sam said. He didn't really care. He went where he was told to go and did what he was told to do.

"It's time you learned the family business," John began.

"What?" Dean asked.

"You mean selling stuff?" Sam asked. "Bobby was teaching me to read better, but I'm still having trouble with the big words." He figured it was better to get that out now instead of his father finding out at an inopportune moment.

"Well, Dean will help you with the reading some more. That will come in handy," John said to encourage Sam. He knew that Sam had been trying real hard and had actually been learning pretty quick as far as he could tell. "But, we're not in sales."

"Dad, stop the car," Dean said. Sam was so not ready for this.

"What's wrong, Dean?" John asked.

"Stop the car. We need to talk."

Sam wondered what was going on. As far as he could tell his brother and father got along pretty well, but it seemed like they were going to have a fight.

John shrugged his shoulders. He would just explain to Dean and then he'd be on board. He pulled over. "Wait here, Sam."

John and Dean walked a little ways into the woods. "Dad, you can't tell him about hunting. He's too skittish. What will he do if he's attacked by something?"

"That's what training is for. It will give him self-confidence and he won't be so afraid once he knows he can take care of himself."

"Why can't he just be normal? Or as normal as anybody could be with what's happened to him?" Dean argued.

"There are people out there that need saving," John reminded Dean. "We've been out of it for weeks."

"Well, maybe if you hadn't been so intent on saving everyone else in the world, Sammy never would have gotten kidnapped in the first place," Dean snapped. All these years he had been blaming himself, but all of the sudden he thought maybe it wasn't all his fault after all. He had just been a kid. It was Dad who left them alone and unprotected.

"Maybe my mistake wasn't training him earlier. I started you off with little stuff when you were six. Sam was eight when he was taken. With some training under his belt maybe he could have gotten away. He's my son and this is what we're doing. If you don't like it you can leave."

John stalked back to the car. Dean had no other choice but to follow. It was true that he was an adult and could take care of himself, but he wasn't going to leave his brother.

They got back in the car. "So, Sammy, we hunt."

"You mean deer and stuff?" Sam asked. He didn't really want to kill anything.

"No. We hunt ghosts and demons and things like that."

"What?" Sam asked, trying to decide if they were messing with him.

"I'll start with the simplest first. Ghosts. Sometimes when people die, their spirits stay here and they want revenge, or they're just full of hatred. They kill other people and we stop them."

Sam realized that if this were true it meant Daddy and Uncle could be ghosts. They could want revenge on him. "How do you stop them?" Sam asked.

John didn't notice Sam's agitation. He was just glad that he was taking an interest. "Most of the time, burning their remains gets rid of them."

"Did you, did you?" Sam asked and he couldn't go any further.

"Did I what, Sam?" John asked.

Dean saw that Sam was shaking. "What's wrong, Sammy?"

"Did you burn Daddy's and Uncle's bones?" Sam whispered.

"Well, no. We wanted to get you out of there as fast as possible," John admitted. He had thought at the time maybe he should, but they hadn't been hunting ghosts and he didn't have any salt or gasoline with him, so he had decided not to worry about it. "Not all dead people become ghosts. And they're usually tied to one specific spot. I doubt they'd be able to leave the woods."

Sam wondered if that was where they were going. Maybe they were going to give him back to the ghosts. He was confusing himself again. He was supposed to remember that they hadn't given him to them in the first place. But he wasn't always sure he believed that.

"Dad, let's go burn the bones," Dean said.

"OK," John agreed. It would probably make Sam feel better and it would be good training. Win win.

Unfortunately, Sam took this as confirmation of his fears.

A/N: I wasn't actually planning on having "Daddy" and "Uncle" being ghosts, but if you would like them to be let me know and I'll consider it.


	14. Training Day

They arrived in Wyoming the next morning.

"Are we going to burn their bones now?" Sam asked. Now that he knew about ghosts he was anxious to make sure that these two particular ones didn't get him.

"No. Not yet. We need to do some training first," John answered.

What kind of training was needed to light a match and set some bones on fire? Sam wondered.

"Dean, grab some salt rounds and show him the basics of a rifle. I'm going to find someplace where we can do target practice."

When John had left Sam said, "I'm confused. I thought you killed ghosts by burning their bones. What does a gun have to do with it? And I thought bullets were made of lead, not salt."

"In case a ghost attacks us while we're digging him up, or whatever, we shoot him. Regular bullets are made of lead, but that doesn't do much good for most of your supernatural creatures. Salt repels ghosts. You shoot one, it disappears. Hopefully long enough to take care of business," Dean explained.

Sam hadn't thought that the ghosts might attack them while they were trying to get rid of them. "What does a ghost do when it attacks you?" He wondered if ghosts would attack with "special time" type activities.

"They usually just throw you into a tree or something," Dean said. He still questioned the wisdom of teaching Sam.

Sam didn't have any more questions, so Dean showed him how to load and unload the rifle and how to strip it and put it back together. Sam picked up on it really fast. Dean was proud of him, but regretted the necessity of having to teach this kind of stuff to anyone, much less Sammy.

SSS

When John had returned, he took Sam and Dean to a field he had found and he had set up targets. Dean watched as John showed Sam how to aim. Finally Sam took his first shot. He missed the can by a couple of inches.

"That was good," John said. "Just bring the gun over the right a little.

Sam did as he was instructed, pulled the trigger again and the can fell over. "I did it!" he yelled, excitedly.

Dean couldn't help but smile. It was good to see Sam happy about something, and see him succeed. He had been doing pretty well with Bobby's reading lessons, but those didn't provide such obvious results.

They spent all day out there with Sam shooting various guns until he seemed to have mastered them all.

"You're a natural," John said.

Sam's face fell. His other Daddy had said that to him all the time when he was showing him different positions for special time.

"What's wrong?" John asked. It drove him crazy that Sam was having a good time for the first time since they had got him back and apparently it wasn't going to last.

"Nothing. Just tired," Sam said.

"Let's go then," John said. He knew there was something else, but he also knew they needed to be well rested before they went on the salt and burn. It was a full day's walk to the first body and a half day's walk to the second one.

"Are we going to have any dinner?" Sam asked.

"We'll order pizza back at the hotel," John said.

"Sounds good, Dad," Dean said.

"Yeah," Sam agreed.

John just realized something. Even after the long conversation they had had about what Sam should call him, he hadn't called him anything. He addressed Dean and Bobby by name, but he just said what he was going to say to him and didn't call him anything. He wondered what, if anything, that meant.

SSS

They started hiking out the next day. John was usually quiet on a hunt, but he didn't want Sam to be too pensive and brooding, so he tried some chit-chat.

"You like to hike, Sam?" he asked.

"Not really," Sam replied. After all the only other time he had been hiking was when he was tied up and being dragged to his "destiny." He shuddered thinking of the old bones he was supposed to have kissed.

John could have kicked himself. Of course the kid didn't like hiking. He felt Dean glare at him and knew it was well-deserved. They were quiet the rest of the day.

Towards dusk they got to the campsite. They walked the little extra to the cliff where they had left Jake's body.

"OK, this is going to be the easiest salt and burn of your life," Dean said. "We don't even have to dig up the body."

"But, it does smell," Sam said, holding his nose.

"Yeah. Usually the corpses we dig up are older and there's no smell, so there's a bit of a trade-off here," John agreed. "All in all, I think I prefer not digging to not having to smell something."

Dean reached into the duffle bag and pulled out two canisters.

"What are those?" Sam asked.

"One is salt and the other's gasoline. The salt is to purify the spirit so it leaves and the gas is so that the bones catch fire before we get caught by the cops or something."

"Where does the spirit go?" Sam asked.

"We don't really know. But it never ever comes back," John reassured Sam. That wasn't strictly true. Burning bones didn't always work, but it did most of the time and Sam didn't really need to worry that these guys were going to be the exception to the rule.

John poured on the gas, while Dean poured the salt. When they were done, John handed Sam a lighter. "Light it and drop it on the bones. Then, we'll know he's gone." He thought it was probably important that Sam be the one to make sure that there was no ghost.

Sam took the lighter. It took him a couple of tries to get it lit, since he had never handled one before. Then he dropped it and watched as the bones caught fire. They stood there until the small fire had burned itself out and then they went back to the tent. They would spend the night there and then set out to finish the job tomorrow.

Sam eyed the tent warily.

"Sorry, Sammy, but there's only the one tent. We'll have to all sleep in it, but we'll give you as much space as possible."

Sam shook a little in fear, but nodded his head.


	15. Taking Control

The next day the three of them got up early. They didn't speak much as they hiked up to where Charlie had died. They were all quiet.

They got there around noon. "OK," John said and started to got the gas and the salt out the duffel bag. He and Dean started pouring it on like yesterday. John just wanted to get this done and get off this accursed mountain.

While John was handing Sam the lighter, two ghosts appeared. One threw John one way and Dean the other. The lighter flew out of John's hand a few feet from Sam.

Sam looked at them. He recognized Daddy and the other man looked kind of like him. He thought maybe it was the father.

"When you killed my son and he landed on me, I woke up," he said, confirming Sam's suspicions. "He's been telling me all about you." He placed a cold hand on Sam's cheek. Up until that time he had been frozen in place, but the cold touch woke him up.

He looked to his father and brother, but they were out. He flung himself to the ground and reached for the lighter. Charlie pulled him back and shoved him at his father. Sam pulled out the gun he had tucked in his pants and shot Charlie's father. He saw that he disappeared. He turned to Charlie, but before he could shoot, Charlie shoved him back, causing him to drop the gun. He heard a shot and Charlie disappeared. He looked up to see that Dean had shot from where he was still laying on the ground.

Sam ran to the lighter. Luckily he had better luck lighting it this time and he quickly dropped it onto the bones. Both the ghosts had just reappeared and he watched them disappear in a blast of flames.

John woke up and stood up and walked over to Sam. "You did it, son," he said. He hadn't actually expected them to be ghosts. Percentage wise, very few people actually turned into ghosts. He didn't have any actual statistics to back that up, of course, but it seemed to be common sense. They would just be overrun with ghosts otherwise.

"Are you OK, Sammy?" Dean asked. He had been so scared when he had woken up to the sound of a gunshot and still there was a ghost standing over his brother.

Sam nodded. He was the best he had been in a long time. He didn't have to be scared of everybody, because he could fight back. He had learned that today.

"How about you?" John asked Dean. He still hadn't stood up.

"I'm fine," Dean said, and painfully made his way to his feet.

"Can you walk? Are you ready to get out of here?" John asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Dean said.

SSS

"So, how do you feel having your first kill under your belt?" Dean asked.

"Good," Sam said. He wasn't sure if he should feel that way or not, though. Killing those two ghosts gave him a lot of pleasure, but killing was supposed to be bad.

They had to sleep at the campsite again that night. Sam was a little freaked out. There had been ghosts in these woods a few hours ago. He knew they were gone now, but it was still spooky.

SSS

That night Sam wasn't as worried that his father and brother would do something to him as he was the night before. He wasn't completely at ease, but he felt better about it. The people that had hurt him all his life were dead now. Well, not all of them, but at least the main two. And his family had saved him a few times in the last few days.

SSS

Hiking out the next day, John noticed that Sam seemed more confident. "You guys want to take another hunt when we get back, or take a few days off?" He knew they had to get back to hunting, but he wanted to take it slow.

"What do you do when you take time off?" Sam asked.

"Good question," Dean muttered. Dad wasn't really big on taking time off.

John chuckled. "I guess we haven't taken too much time off in the last few years."

"How did you find out about all this stuff anyway? Were you doing this before…?" Sam asked.

"Yeah. Your mother was killed by something. I still don't know what, but if I hunt enough things down, I'll get what killed her eventually."

"So, you live your life for hate?" Sam asked.

Dean and John stopped walking. Dean was shocked that he would say something like that, but kind of realized it was true. He had just never thought of it that way.

"Not hate," John protested. "I save people."

"But, that's not what you said," Sam pointed out. "You want to kill what killed mom. It sounds like saving people is just an excuse."

John wanted to yell at Sam, scream at him for not understanding, but he knew he couldn't. When he had taken a minute to calm down, he thought that Sam might have a point.

"You might be right, but it doesn't change anything. I can't let people die even if saving them is a secondary reason. And I will not let your mother's life go unavenged."

Sam shrugged. He understood. Maybe one day he would hunt down every one of those people who were at those parties. He would make sure other kids were never hurt by them, but mostly he would just be punishing them.

But, for now, he'd let his father and brother train him and help with their crusade. Because they were a family now and if he had learned anything the last few days, it was that family watched each other's back.

The End


End file.
